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Learn about
the change management theories that actually
work, using the reinforcement theory you will
accelerate your culture change and strengthen your
leadership.
Recap change
management theories from the previous
section A good leader will
strengthen desirable employee
behavior
using positive responses to make the employee feel good or valued for their recent efforts. The types of positive responses that you can use include
- Positive reinforcement
- Reward
- Negative reinforcement
A good
leader will weaken undesirable
employee behavior
using negative leadership responses, the types of negative responses include
Now we will look at each in detail, so we can get you managing change today!
What is on
this page?
o
Reinforcement Types
o Positive
Reinforcement
o Reward
o Negative
Reinforcement
o Extinction
o Punishment
Positive Reinforcement
A good leader will quickly realize the hidden power of
positive reinforcement.
None of the other change management theories
or motivational techniques has greater influence on your
employee’s behavior or on your business culture.
This technique is free to use and can be tailored to almost any situation, some examples include
- Motivate your employees to stretch
their performance and test their capabilities
- Influence the early adoption of
process change in your team
- Drive culture change in your
business
Positive reinforcement is simply about providing positive feedback to your employees. This feedback can be formally in a performance feedback session or informally during the working day.
By providing positive reinforcement regularly, you will be
- Demonstrating that you are knowledgeable about the employees performance
- Providing regular informal feedback
(Both are in the top 8 drivers of employee performance, click here to discover the other 6)
Typically, you will deliver your positive reinforcement verbally, however you may supplement this with some electronic or written media.
When giving positive feedback you can focus on two subjects
- The performance, or
- The person
Positive Reinforcement about Performance
Leaders who achieve results will use positive reinforcement regularly, some examples of positive performance feedback
- Thank you for completing the report
for me, Shannon
- You have done a good job with that assignment, Jo
- Great customer service, Tony
You will notice that these examples are all short, this is
intentional, you do not need to make a speech.
You will notice that the persons name is at the end of the
short feedback statement. The use of the persons name at the
end of a key sentence will have greater affect than placing
the persons name at the beginning.
Positive Reinforcement about the Person
When giving positive reinforcement about the person you need to focus on the qualities that you value in their work, for example
- You are good with numbers, Lee
- You succeeded, Kim, because of your persistence following up the suppliers
- Your are resilient, Ashley, this is a great quality for a sales person
Positive Reinforcement Pitfalls
- If your reinforcement exceeds performance, for example telling a poor performing employee that they are doing well, your effort will have no impact.
- If a poor performing employee has
improved be specific, “good to see your performance is improving, Margery” rather than "great result, Margery"
-
Avoid over praising, see reinforcement intervals section
Key
Point: Positive
reinforcement has more influence on changing employee behavior
than any of the other change management
theories.
Your Progress on this page
ž Positive
Reinforcement
o
Reward
Reward
Reward is an easy to use form of positive reinforcement. Specifically a reward has a tangible positive benefit for the recipient, as distinct to reinforcement whose benefit is intangible.
Many leaders will adopt reward programs more eagerly than reinforcement programs, this is primarily due to the ease of implementation, assuming no budget constraints, and it requires less change in leader behavior.
When considering the use of a reward program you might like to consider each of the following rewards
- Financial rewards, where you give cash
- Gifts such as movie tickets,
shopping vouchers or traditionally a watch
- Opportunity such as promotion, challenging assignments, visible projects or development activities
- Flexibility with rostering, work conditions and planned leave
Some Pit Falls
- If you select a model of providing small frequent rewards, you will find that your employees will come to view these rewards as entitlements Then your employees will come to expect small frequent rewards, which reduces the rewards motivational influence.
- If you offer large incentives, holidays, large bonuses for top performing employees, you risk these incentives becoming political, unless the measures are tangible.
- Some managers “to be fair” rotate
the reward, this is ineffective and will make managing
change harder for you
Your Progress on this page
ž Positive
Reinforcement
ž Reward
o Negative
Reinforcement
Negative
Reinforcement
Negative reinforcement is the removal of a negative task, one that the employee does not enjoy, as a reward for demonstrating or adopting a specific behavior. By rewarding the employee behavior, you will be increasing the probability of the specific behavior occurring again in the future.
For example
- The top performing sales person does not have roster on the evening shift
- If you change the way you give the change back to the customer to include lightly touching the customers hand as you count the change out, you will not have to sweep the floors tonight.
Pitfalls
- Ensure the rest of your team does not see this as a form of collective punishment. In the above example “we have to work more afternoon shifts to cover for them”
- Ensure the person sees the task you are removing as a negative
- This technique
will strengthen behavior, however it has a weak impact on
the motivation of the employee
Your Progress on this page
ž Positive
Reinforcement
ž Reward
ž Negative Reinforcement
o Extinction
Extinction
Extinction is a technique where you cease to provide positive outcomes that you have provided in the past. By removing the reinforcement, you will reduce the probability of the behavior occurring again in the future.
For example
- You may be rewarding your employees for amount of time it takes to complete a transaction, which has reduced transaction time by 50%. However, this has resulted in a poor customer experience so you cease to reward the employees for transaction time and start to reward customer service.
Pitfalls
- Misinterpreting the theory to mean not addressing poor performance will reduce the probability of the poor performance continuing. (Not true)
- Relying solely
on this technique without having a complimentary shift in
your positive reinforcement
Your Progress on this page
ž Positive
Reinforcement
ž
Reward
ž Negative
Reinforcement
ž
Extinction
o
Punishment
Punishment
Punishment is a deliberate negative
intervention to change or correct a behavior. Sometimes this
involves assigning an undesirable task or performance
counseling. See our Performance
Management Section
for more information.
Key
Point: Punishment has less influence on
changing employee behavior than any of the other change
management theories.
Your Progress on this page
ž Positive
Reinforcement
ž Reward
ž Negative Reinforcement
ž Extinction
ž Punishment
Summary
Of the many change management
theories, reinforcement theory is by far the most useful for
leading culture change. It describes the five techniques that
a leader may use to influence employee behavior.
Of the five techniques three
are used to strengthen desirable employee behavior, and two
are used to weaken employee behavior.
When planning your culture
change programs include lots of positive reinforcement and
minimal punishment and you will be on the right track.
How much
reinforcement should you use?
The next section describes the ideal
reinforcement frequency.
Click
here to find out how often you
should reinforce your employee's behavior
Practice the
use of reinforcement theory and you will not need any of
the other change management theories.
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Other useful
Change Management Theories
"Learn how to
change your culture one behavior, in one employee at a
time" Ian
Pratt
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